Desir has come from a school nobody has heard of to being one of the players to watch during Senior Bowl week. Desir earned an invitation after an impressive outing at the East-West Shrine game last week, where he said he spoke to the Vikings.

The St. Charles native started at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. for three years, including a redshirt season in 2008, before transferring to Lindenwood, where Desir said he could be closer to his daughters.

So where exactly is Lindenwood University? It's in St. Charles, Mo., about 10 miles out of St. Louis. (Note: Thanks to a commenter whareid, who pointed out I had the site incorrect originally in this post.)

Desir has the third longest wingspan among cornerbacks at the Senior Bowl. With his length, he said he likes to watch Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and Broncos cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. He’s fine with playing at 195 pounds, but Desir would like to add five more pounds so he can play more physical in press coverage, what he considers his strength.

“I think it is my best aspect of my game just so I can use my long arms knock the receiver off the route and get more physical off the line,” Desir said.

Lindenwood played its final game on Nov. 9, so these last two weeks have been the most football action Desir has seen in two months.

“It’s been a grind especially coming out of training,” Desir said. “I haven’t played in a while coming into the East-West was playing for the first time in a long time. I’m just coming out here having fun each day, working on the little things to get better and bring myself to compete with these guys.”

Matt Vensel is in his first year at the Star Tribune after covering the Ravens for the Baltimore Sun for six years. He is a Pittsburgh native and a Penn State grad. Follow him at @mattvensel.

Mark Craig has covered the NFL for 23 years, and the Vikings since 2003 for the Star Tribune. He is one of 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. Follow him at @markcraignfl.

Master Tesfatsion is the Star Tribune’s digital Vikings writer. He is a 2013 graduate of Arizona State and worked for mlb.com before arriving in Minneapolis. Follow him at @masterstrib.